A Game of Fate
by The Book Worm Assassin
Summary: Percy is sitting in the park waiting for Annabeth before he is approached by a mysterious person and challenged to a game of wits. Can he win and save his date night?


Sweat dripped down my brow as I contemplated my next move. A wrong step and it would be all over. Everything I worked so hard for would be for nothing.

"Make the wrong move, Son of Poseidon, and you will lose it all," my opponent smirked.

My morning had started off simple enough. I had been looking forward to spending some quality time with my girlfriend. We were going to go see one of the new movies that just came out (something about time travel and assassins, which was my kind of movie). I had been sitting on a park bench in Central Park, waiting for her to show up. It was a nice clear day in November, with only a couple marshmallow clouds dotting the sky. People jogged by, the condensation from their breaths hanging in the air, being pushed into a myriad of different shapes by the soft wind. I was relaxing in the park before she approached. The gleam in her eye told me my unexciting morning was about to get turned upside down.

"What is someone like you doing in a place like this?"

My defenses went up immediately. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"A demigod in the middle of Central Park. Well, it's not exactly your everyday tourist attraction. I have a proposition for you," she said. Uh-oh, I thought. This can't be good.

"What kind of proposition?"

"A game of wits. And if you win, you just might get to go on that date of yours."

At first, I thought I was doing pretty good. I had managed do some damage. But after about 15 minutes though, I realized that maybe I wasn't going to win this. This was one fight I wouldn't be able to come out on top. I looked at the situation in front of me. If I moved left, it was a bust, and if I moved right, the same result.

"You must realize by now that you are out-classed. There is no way for you to win," she said. Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Fat chance," I replied. There was no way I was going to let her get the best of me. This was a fight I could win. I had to win. "You're getting a little ahead of yourself." I made my move up the middle, confident that it would put her on the defensive. It worked.

Shock registered on her face as she realized what I had done. "Ah, so the Hero of Olympus does have a brain. Who would have thought that was possible." She advanced towards my center, unaware of the trap that I had laid. I watched her intently, waiting for the moment to strike. Just a little bit closer…

She stopped a step too early, hesitating to come closer. I had to find a way to get her to move that extra step.

"Is that all you have?" I said sarcastically, trying to goad her into moving farther.

"You do not know what you are getting into here."

"So is that a yes?"

I smiled inwardly as I saw her face contort into a display of rage, replaced by an expression that could only be one thing. A look of smugness passed across her face before becoming unreadable again. If I knew one thing about my opponent, it was that she was prideful. She would do something just to prove to you that she could do it.

"That, Perseus Jackson, is not even close to what I am capable of," she retorted.

When she made her extra move forward, I was sure that it was the last one. I looked at my surroundings, getting ready to strike the final blow, but I stopped myself short. Something wasn't right. It wasn't adding up. I took a second look. My trap had backfired. I had made myself look vulnerable to trick her into a rash attack, but she suspected it, and now I was backed into a corner. There was no way out. The look on her face confirmed it.

"What are you going to do now? You have no other moves."

"We'll see about that," I said.

She laughed. "Even in the face of destruction, you still have the confidence of someone with no hope of losing. Quite the opposite is true. You have no hope of winning. I hope you are not in denial about your fate."

"The only one in denial is you."

I looked down to see what I could do. I went through every option I could think of, trying to find a way to win this. Anything that could help me. I went through everything I could think of and started over hoping I might see something that I had missed. Sweat dripped down my brow as I contemplated my next move. A wrong step and it would be all over. Everything I worked so hard for would be for nothing.

"Make the wrong move, Son of Poseidon, and you will lose it all."

Never going to happen, I thought. I looked back down at the board, my brain going into overdrive trying to find a way out of this. There wasn't. I kept looking it over and over, trying to find something, anything, but there was nothing. I started to despair, thinking of the horrible things that might happen to me before she interrupted my train of thought.

"It's been 20 minutes since I moved my bishop, Percy. Staring at it is not going to change anything."

I looked at my watch. It had only been 18 minutes since she moved. Trying to exaggerate things again.

"You're just trying to distract me," I replied. I looked down again and saw something I hasn't seen before. It was so simple that I had simply dismissed it earlier. I remembered something that Annabeth had told me earlier in the week. The simplest solution is almost always the best solution. I was certain this was going to work. It had too. I moved my knight.

"Seems like I will be winning this after all," I bragged. I watched as I picked up my knight and started moving it to its next spot. No matter what move she made next, I was going to win. I would be able to enjoy the movie after all. I hovered the statue above its spot as I tried to read the expression on my enemy's face. Was that fear I saw? Disbelief? I slammed down the knight, reveling in my victory. No sooner than the wood had touched the board, my opponent nearly tossed her rook to the other end of the board.

"Checkmate," she declared.

"What?" I couldn't believe it. "It isn't possible."

"Take a look."

A gust of wind swept my hair into my eyes, causing my eyes to water for a second.

"Don't cry," she snorted.

A couple of choice words was my reply. I looked down at the checkered board. I didn't see how it could have happened. There was no way. I lost. That was it. Game over. Elvis had left the building. The Michael Jordan slam dunk of Chess. I had let her win by moving my knight. If I had kept it were it was, this wouldn't be happening. I could have been going to the movies later, maybe get some ice cream and go to beach later. None of that was going to happen now. I had blown it.

"How did you win?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Athena always have a plan." She had a look of triumph on her face. I started worrying about the things she might do to me. The endless torture. The humiliation of defeat. But the worse of it by far, never hearing the end of it. She continued, "But don't worry Seaweed Brain, we can still go to the movie." With that, Annabeth turned around and walked off toward the movie theater, leaving me staring like an idiot at the Chess board.

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